SHC grants interim bail to NICVD officials

The Sindh High court granted interim bail on Friday to three National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases officials accused of making illegal appointments and engaging in corruption at the healthcare facility.

At the hearing, the petitioners' counsel informed the court that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was investigating the case and had issued call-up notices to his clients. He claimed the accused were willing to cooperate with the NAB in the investigation but feared being arrested. The counsel moved the court to restrict the NAB from arresting the accused. At this, the court granted interim bail to accused Dr Muhammad Raza, Gibran and Rajia against a surety of Rs500,000 each. It also issued a notice to the NAB, seeking its reply on the bail pleas on November 23.

In October, a NAB team had raided the NICVD to check its financial records, question officials and gather documents. The raid led to an outcry from the Sindh government as well as medical and civil society bodies, which pointed out that the ant-graft watchdog's actions caused services to be halted and panic among patients, visitors and hospital staff.

Assets beyond means

Separately, the court also granted protective bail for a week to Junaid Qadir Shah, nominated in the corruption and assets beyond means case registered against PPP leader Khursheed Shah. The petitioner's counsel told the court that an accountability court in Sukkur had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Junaid. He further stated that though Junaid had taken residence in Saudi Arabia and Oman since 2014, he was ready to face the trial in Pakistan. He moved the court to restrict the relevant authorities from arresting Junaid.